He had enough fentanyl to ‘kill 500,000 people.’ Coast drug dealer gets life in prison.
A California man sentenced to life in prison had been supplying narcotics traffickers on the Gulf Coast for years, according to an investigation by the Mississippi Federal Bureau of Investigation, federal prosecutors and local law enforcement.
Sharard Collier, 44, of Inglewood, California, was sentenced in Gulfport for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby of the FBI in Mississippi announced Wednesday.
The drug case spanned two Coast counties and began July 25, 2019, according to court documents, with the seizure of 12 pounds of methamphetamine in Pascagoula.
Surveillance followed Collier when he met with co-defendant Gerald Wayne Jones, of Mobile, Alabama, at a truck stop. Court records show that a semi-truck owned by the two was searched and contained an additional 28 kilos of methamphetamine.
Lab results showed the methamphetamine had purity levels of 99% and 100%.
Collier was arrested on November 4, 2019, at a home in Pass Christian where law enforcement found 24 kilos of methamphetamine and close to a kilo of fentanyl.
Collier pled guilty on Dec. 2, 2020.
Co-defendant Aaron Whavers, of Pass Christian, pled guilty and was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison.
Gerald Wayne Jones pled guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal, depending on a person’s body size, tolerance and past usage, LaMarca said.
“This defendant possessed with the intent to distribute enough fentanyl to kill 500,000 people,” he said. “We will never know the number of overdoses he caused when he combined this killer with methamphetamine. But, what we do know is he won’t do it again.”
Fomby said the sentence handed down Wednesday reflect the determination with which law enforcement is combating the distribution of illegal narcotics.
The FBI Safe Streets Task Force is comprised of members from the FBI, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Pascagoula Police Department, Ocean Springs Police Department, Gautier Police Department and Moss Point Police Department, which investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Annette Williams prosecuted the case.
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 5:40 PM.
